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39 Crittenden CFD F PDF
39 Crittenden CFD F PDF
ABSTRACT
Experimental data on the fouling of various crude oils is
being obtained in a small (1 litre) batch stirred cell which is
operated at temperatures up to 400oC and pressures up to 30
bar. The cell is based on the Eaton and Lux patented design.
The fouling resistance is found to increase more-or-less
linearly with time after an induction period. Distributions of
shear stress, surface temperature and heat flux over the
cells heated test finger are modelled using the Comsol CFD
package. The CFD simulation results are validated against
the measured temperature data at various axial positions on
the heated test probe. At the end of a fouling run, the cell is
dismantled and the fouling layer thickness is measured using
the Proscan technique. The profile of fouling layer thickness
along the heated surface is found to be in an almost
parabolic form, with its maximum thickness near to the
middle of the surface. The CFD-predicted surface
temperature profiles are strikingly similar whilst the
predicted shear stress profiles are found to be virtually flat.
Hence, it becomes possible to correlate, for a fixed surface
shear stress, the local fouling rate against the local surface
temperature, and hence to obtain an Arrhenius plot from one
experimental run. The local experimental shear stress can be
varied by changing the speed of rotation of the cells
cylindrical stirrer and so the effect of shear stress on fouling
behaviour can be studied as well.
INTRODUCTION
Eaton and Lux (1983, 1984) designed a batch stirred
cell system and carried out experiments over the pressure
range 3-20 bar with test-probe surface temperatures up to
600C. It was claimed that very good simulations could be
obtained of actual fouling situations and the apparatus was
applied to a wide variety of crude oils and operating
conditions. This type of experimental apparatus is relatively
compact, can even be made portable, and uses much less
volume of crude oil for experiments than recirculating flow
loops (Crittenden et al., 2009). Moreover, the batch stirred
cell can easily be dismantled for inspection of the fouling
layer after test runs, permitting easy extraction of samples
for analysis without destruction of any of its parts. The
experimental operation with the batch stirred cell is
relatively straightforward and faster than with a recirculating
flow loop system. In this work, therefore, a batch stirred cell
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Proscan Measurement
At the end of a fouling run the cell is cooled and the
probe is removed. Figure 2 shows a probe with a typical
fouling deposit. The probe is placed in a vacuum oven to
allow any liquid oil residue to evaporate off. It is then held
with a V block and placed in the measuring plate of the
Proscan 2000. The surface of the probe is scanned using a
laser optical sensor to measure the fouling layer thickness
profile.
( k )
+ u k = + T
k
t
k + T u + ( u )T
]
2
(1)
( )
+ u = + T
+ C 1 C k u + (u )T
] C
(2)
Here, T = Ck2/ is the turbulent dynamic viscosity.
Values of the k- model parameters are given as follows
(Comsol 2006b):
C = 0.09
C1 = 1.44
C2 = 1.92
k = 1.0
= 1.3
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
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0.1
Rf (m2K/kW)
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02
0
Time (hour)
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between the actual measurements for Twb and Tws and their
model predicted values using Comsol helps to validate the
simulation.
Scale unit: K
Scale unit:
m/s
Fig. 6b. 3D velocity field circular coils
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Scale unit:
K
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Variable
Velocity
Velocity
Temperature
Temperature
3D simulation
0.115 m/s
0.113 m/s
568 K
567 K
2D simulation
0.119 m/s
0.119 m/s
570 K
570 K
Predicted
Conditions
636 K
638 K
Twb
647 K
644 K
Tws
651K
649.5 K
Twb
664 K
662.5 K
Temperature (K)
Measured
Tws
640
630
620
610
600
590
580
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Z position (mm)
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120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
z position (mm)
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
z position (m m )
Shear
Stress (Pa)
0.20
0.52
1.17
670
80
660
70
650
60
640
50
630
40
620
30
610
20
600
10
590
140
580
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Z Position (mm)
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(10)
2.
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.0015
0.00155
0.0016
0.00165
0.0017
1/T
3.
4.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the UKs Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the award
of a research grant (EP/D506131/1) to study the role of
asphaltenes in crude oil fouling. The authors are grateful
also to their EPSRC project partners at Imperial College
London and the University of Cambridge, as well as to
ExxonMobil and Petronas who supplied samples of crude
oils.
NOMENCLATURE
A pre-exponential factor
Cp specific heat capacity, J/(K kg)
C model constant for modeling the turbulent viscosity
C1 parameter in k- turbulence model
C2 parameter in k- turbulence model
Ea activation energy, kJ/mol
k turbulent kinetic energy, m2/s2
keff effective thermal conductivity, W/(K m)
ko molecular thermal conductivity, W/(K m)
kT turbulent thermal conductivity, W/(K m)
R universal gas constant, 8.314 J/mol K
Rf fouling resistance, m2 K/kW
T absolute temperature, K
t
time, s
u flow velocity, m/s
x fouling layer thickness, m
z vertical position from the probe top, mm
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